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Virtual reality's roller coaster ride to the mainstream
In the early '90s, four odd-looking arcade games appeared at a rented-out store in my local mall. For about seven dollars, anyone could play three minutes of a new virtual reality game called Dactyl Nightmare. I paid up, put on the massive helmet and... the game was over before I'd even figured out what I was doing in the blocky, chessboard-like environment. The whole experience left a lot to be desired and I never went back. It certainly wasn't the first VR experience (or the most advanced) made available for public consumption, but it sums up how many felt about the ill-fated, first wave of consumer-facing VR projects: all hype and not enough substance. The times and technology have changed, though, and it's finally time for round two. VR systems are being developed and promoted at a rate that outstrips the previous era, with better graphics and games (and far less queasiness) than ever before. VR, it seems, is just about ready for prime time. So to commemorate its second coming, let's take a look at virtual reality's bumpy road to mainstream recognition.
Avegant's Glyph video headset will change how you see movies
Some products have a hard time ever getting to market. Some (seem to) come out of nowhere. Then there's the Avegant Glyph video headset. It initially launched on Kickstarter back in January 2014 (raising a cool $1.5-million). Along the way we've seen a ropey prototype. And then a less ropey one. And an even less ropey one. Today, we got to try out the nearest thing to the consumer product we're likely to see before it finally launches later this year.
Jaguar's smart windshield will eliminate blind spots
It's hard to spot every possible road hazard. Mirrors and cameras will show what's behind you, but your car's roof pillars can still hide careless pedestrians and aggressive drivers. They won't be issues if Jaguar's 360-degree Virtual Urban Windscreen comes to fruition. The update to the company's windshield project uses cameras to create "transparent" pillars which highlight threats you can't see, giving you an extra moment to take evasive action. It promises distraction-free navigation, too -- the screen generates a ghost car that shows you where to turn, as if you're simply following a friend. The technology is still in mid-development and probably won't be as sleek as Jaguar's concept video suggests, but it hints at a future where you're rarely caught off-guard while driving.
Unsure about buying an EV? This Heads-Up Display may someday help
Say you've thought about getting an electric vehicle but didn't want to take the plunge until you were absolutely certain that you wouldn't wind up on the side of the highway with a dead battery. It's a legitimate concern known as "range anxiety," but assuaging that problem involves either manually keeping track of everywhere you go from day to day or actually buying the car and figuring it out as you go along. The AT&T Foundry, a startup incubator tasked with coming up with clever new tech products, has designed a Heads Up Display (HUD) that may sooth the nerves of skeptical EV shoppers. The lightweight HUD can be placed inside your gas vehicle and programmed to mimic the dashboard of whatever EV model you're thinking of buying. As you go through your daily grind, you get a feel in real-time of how far you can drive before needing a recharge.
The computer as copilot: Charting the growth of navigation tech
Pretty soon, we may not even have to drive ourselves, but we'll still need to rely on the incredibly complex infrastructure of satellites and gadgets to get us from point A to point B. In this week's Rewind, we look at some highlights in the evolution of in-car navigation technology, from old-school cartography to today's digital tools.
Skully's Android-powered smart motorcycle helmet goes up for pre-order
If you take your motorbike rides seriously enough to want a smart heads-up display in your helmet, you can now do something about it. Skully has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for its Android-powered head protector, now named the AR-1; plunk down $1,399 and you should be one of the first to get the wearable when it ships in May 2015. That's both a lot of money and a long time to wait, but Skully is betting that you'll like the data you get while on the road. As promised, the helmet projects navigation, a rear camera view and riding info on your visor. Voice commands let you keep a grip on the handlebars, and smartphone pairing gets the headgear online. The price goes up to $1,499 if you wait until launch to make a purchase, so you may want to commit early if you're determined to augment your two-wheeled adventures.
Navdy gives your car an iPhone-linked HUD
We love our cars, and we love our iPhones, but sometimes we don't love them so much together. Navigation and entertainment apps provide a wonderful road trip experience, but controlling those apps by touch or by voice is tougher -- and more dangerous -- than it should be, even using clever clips to attach the phone to the car. There's a fundamental incompatibility between paying attention to a tiny touchscreen at arm's length and paying attention to large amounts of kinetic energy embodied in a massive chunk of steel and plastic moving at 100 km/h. Apple's CarPlay shim for iPhone 5+ devices will address some of those command and control issues (if you buy a new car, or refit your stereo with an aftermarket unit) by relocating the functional display of the phone to the dashboard, reskinning the UI for simplicity, and enabling both physical switches and Siri-based voice controls for functional operations. That still doesn't clear the biggest hurdle: keeping your eyes on the road as you drive, rather than pulling your focus back to the center console and degrading your driving attention. The limitations of in-dash or phone displays have led to some creative solutions like the HUDWAY directions app, Sygic's HUD feature in its nav app, Garmin's HUD (Head Up Display) unit and others. The app-only solutions are fine at night, but they suffer in the sunlight (not to mention lightly braising your phone as it sits on the dash). Garmin's LED-based unit is fine but inflexible, and only works with the company's nav apps. The upcoming Navdy HUD, however, aims for more flexibility and a slick set of interaction modes combined with a full-featured, correctly distanced projection setup that makes it appear as though the display (driven by your iPhone or Android phone) is floating two meters away over the road ahead. Navdy can draw power and data from your car's diagnostic (OBD-II) port, which lets Navdy display speed and distance-to-empty while opening up the possibility of future features to analyze and manage driving and performance data. All this savvy will come at a price, however: Navdy's pre-order cost of US$299 (versus a regular retail price of $499 when it ships in early 2015) is 2x the Garmin unit's price, although Garmin's HUD only works if you buy one of the company's $30+ nav apps to drive it. The Navdy unit, which will connect to the dash via a combined silicon friction mount and a magnetic interlock, will support nav apps like Google Maps and music apps like the built-in iTunes app, Pandora, Spotify and more. The UI of those apps is distilled down to create a "glanceable" experience, keeping only the critical information a driver needs and eliminating any excess chrome or distractions from the HUD. Even multitasking will be driver-friendly; any incoming call or SMS will only take over a part of the display, leaving speed and next turn visible at all times. Of course, SMS or iMessage alerts can be read aloud; with parental controls, they can be disabled entirely while the car is in motion. The voice and gesture controls of Navdy take the HUD experience to the next level. Dictating messages or directions can be done with Siri natively, but Navdy adds a noise-cancelling mic directly in front of the driver's mouth to improve recognition performance. Gestures can accept or turn down an incoming call, change music tracks and more via left/right swipes and a thumbs-up. Navdy talks to your phone via Bluetooth, and since it uses the OBD port for power it won't clog up your 12v/cigarette lighter plug. For cars made before 1996, Navdy will offer an optional 12v adapter to use instead of the OBD connector. The display quality, in the preproduction unit I examined, was very good. The "floating" effect is quite solid and there was no eyestrain or other sense of looking at something that wasn't really there. With a real-world placement on a hot dashboard in the bright sun, your mileage may vary, but Navdy's founders believe they can deliver HUD technology that will work for both everyday and performance drivers in any kind of driving conditions. Both the discount and full-price Navdy may seem quite steep; it's tough to put $300 into a device that you haven't seen in action. But if the Navdy team can deliver on all the functionality they plan to package into the unit, my feeling is that it will be worth the cost. You can read more about Navdy and place a pre-order at www.navdy.com. Navdy's launch video (produced by the delightful and talented Adam Lisagor) is embedded below.
In-car heads-up display lets you respond to texts with hand motions and voice
We've seen companies take a few stabs at smartphone-savvy heads-up displays for cars, but they tend to be one-way devices -- while they'll feed you info, you still have to reach for your phone to answer a message or get directions. Navdy may just have a smarter solution in store. Its namesake HUD not only projects car stats, navigation and notifications, but lets you interact with them through a blend of gestures and speech. You swipe with your fingers to either respond to or dismiss any alert that comes in; the system leans on the built-in voice commands from Android and iOS, so you can tell Navdy to get directions in Google Maps or play iTunes music as if you were speaking to the phone itself.
Darkfall creates a new customizable user interface
Today's patch for Darkfall brings a major revamp to the user interface that's long been in the making. "We started changing things with the revisions we did to windows like chat, feats, and roles, and as it was expected, the time had come to give some attention to what we call internally the 'Front of Darkfall,' aka the Action Mode HUD (Heads-Up Display)," Aventurine posted. The action HUD has several new components including crosshair, healthbar, and target information. This then can be customized in regard to location, opacity, icon selection, and size.
Recon's 'Google Glass' for sports gets a finalized design ahead of September launch
No, the Recon Jet still isn't out yet, but its manufacturer has a few bits of news to share. For starters, the sports-minded heads up display's brain box is now angled slightly upward, which supposedly improves the display's viewing angle and camera orientation. This tweak apparently boosts the HUD's ergonomics and makes it fit a bit better, too. The Jet is also now rated to IP65 standard, which means it'll be able to withstand dust and torrential rainstorms. Don't think that it'll work on your next swim, though, because submerging the unit is apparently out of the question. The outfit (thankfully) doesn't mention any changes to its September 25th release date, either, but it is spending the next month working on testing the Jet. Oh, and there's a protective case in the works too -- all the better to keep your $700 investment safe and sound. How protected to the Jet remains while it's on your face, however, well, that's up to you.
New fighter pilot helmet delivers night vision without goggles
Fighter pilots have access to helmets with amazing abilities. However, they still have to strap on heavy night vision goggles to fly in the dark -- an all too literal pain in the neck. Much to aircrews' relief, BAE Systems wants to make that clunky headgear a distant memory. Its brand new Striker II helmet includes a night vision camera that projects its footage on to the visor's high-resolution display, giving the pilot a good look at the outside world without the need for extra equipment. The tech should be far more comfortable during lengthy missions, especially in sharp turns where G-forces make any added weight feel that much worse.
Jaguar Land Rover projects driving data directly on the windshield
I've had my on-track exploits overlaid with race telemetry to be viewed after the session, but Jaguar Land Rover is looking to project that info on the windshield while you make laps or cruise the highways. The Virtual Windscreen concept beams hazard, speed and navigation graphics to the driver's view, adding both racing line and braking guidance alongside ghost cars and virtual cones for more performance-oriented activities. What's more, the automaker also has a gesture control system in the works, aiming to limit the amount of physical button pushing.
These early Google Glass prototypes looked (even more) awkward
Whether you believe Google Glass looks hideous or fashionable -- and hey, we're not here to judge -- the current model looks a heckuva lot better than its first few prototypes. The first models arrived on the scene in 2010, and they looked more like the mess Jason Jones slapped together for the Daily Show than an actual consumer product. Three of the earliest prototypes, spanning two years, were on display at I/O this week.
Playing 'Death from Above' with Oculus Rift
Last time we played a virtual reality game built by the folks from Chaotic Moon, we were giving a bunch of digital sharks the business with our Engadget fists of fury. Friday night at Engadget Live in Austin, we played a new game, called Death from Above, that pitted editor against editor. The game itself is fairly simple: drive a Jeep over hill and dale to the safety of a bunker while a second player attempts to bomb said Jeep into oblivion. The driver straps on an original Oculus Rift dev kit headset, some headphones and uses a Logitech racing wheel and pedal combo to pilot the Jeep, while player two rains death using an iPad and a companion app. It's a unique take on VR gameplay, and one that allows for a more social gaming experience. Also, it's a lot of fun.
DARPA flaunts wearable display with Oculus-like head-tracking
DARPA has long sought a heads-up display to give soldiers situational awareness without distracting them, and it looks like technology has finally caught up to that ambition. It recently unveiled a new ULTRA-Vis prototype at its DARPA Demo Days, saying the breakthrough was a "holographic wave guide" display. Similar to how the Oculus Rift headset works (but not in 3D), it'll project color images locked to the terrain -- even if you move your head -- thanks to motion-sensing and GPS systems. For instance, targeting icons will stay fixed on enemy or friendly positions, even tracking targets behind GIs with a 360-degree ring-like display. It'll also allow soldiers to communicate with each other, their base camp or air support, and play drone video in the display. Like similar projects, the prototype is far from battle-ready, but will function as a test-bed for all of DARPA's wild ideas until the final design is complete. [Image credit: Breaking Defense]
Sailboat racers get a heads-up display to call their own
It's not easy to track the progress of a racing sailboat -- you don't always have the free time (or free hands) to check a compass or run across the deck. Keeping tabs on a watercraft should be much less of a chore in the future, though, as Afterguard has released a heads-up display system for high-speed sailors. The gear relays speed, wind vectors and other boat data from a central unit to any crew member wearing a pair of Recon Instruments glasses, letting a team focus on outrunning the competition rather than getting its bearings. Afterguard isn't cheap at $2,499 for a complete system ($1,899 during April), but you couldn't even get a sailing HUD before now unless you were an America's Cup racer; this makes the technology available to a much wider audience.
Temple Run in first-person, courtesy of Epson's Android glasses (hands-on)
We saw Epson's Moverio BT-200 glasses back at CES, and while not much has changed on the hardware front since then, the company dropped by SXSW to demo a few new games. There's also a new homemade camera rig, so it's now possible to share the excitement here. Moverio supports the full version of Android 4.0, but unlike smartphones and tablets running the same OS, these glasses include a pair of embedded transparent displays, which provide a surprisingly usable view, while also preserving some of your field of vision -- we absolutely would not recommend walking, driving or interacting with humans while wearing them, though.
WildStar's interface: Then and now
You can argue that in a game that allows for free modification of the user interface, it's less important that you get the whole thing right out of the gate. But with a game as action-oriented as WildStar, a comfortable default interface is going to play a big role in how the game feels to new players. The game's latest development blog shows off the game's old UI from earlier beta tests as well as the newest iteration, with the latter incorporating a great deal of tester feedback to make the whole thing better. The revised UI takes up less crucial space in the center of the screen, also known as "the space where players are watching for telegraphs." Core actions are more central and easily accessible, while additional bars are positioned along the sides. The new UI also does a better job of displaying the health and resources of the player at a glance. If you've played the game but aren't terribly fond of its default interface, you may want to glance at the development diary and see if the redone setup is more to your liking.
MIT's new transparent screen may lead to cheap heads-up displays
Transparent screens just aren't very practical these days -- bigger models are frequently expensive and bulky, while smaller heads-up displays tend to have very narrow viewing angles. However, MIT may have solved all those problems at once with its prototype nanoparticle display. The device creates color images on a glass surface simply by 'tuning' a silver nanoparticle coating until it lets only certain light wavelengths pass through. The technique is both cheap and compact, since it requires little more than the coating and some off-the-shelf projector technology. There's also no need for beam splitters or mirrors, so you can see the picture from just about any angle. While there's a lot of work left before there's a finished product, researchers note that their display would be as easy to implement as window tinting; don't be surprised if MIT's screen shows up on a car windshield or storefront near you.
Lumus turns its military-grade eyewear into a Google Glass competitor (video)
Lumus has long developed heads-up displays for the US military, but now it's using a developer kit called the DK-40 to bring its HUD tech to wearables outside the battlefield. The contraption's first stop was the CES show floor, so we couldn't resist putting our fingerprints all over it. The key feature of the DK-40 is the "optical engine", which eliminates the need for a thick piece of glass to house a substantially sized prism. For the most part, the lens is transparent, but refracting light can occasionally catch the prisms and remind you (again) that it's not run-of-the-mill eyewear. And as if one display wasn't enough, the firm says it's possible to add a second one for the left eye. Folks with eyesight issues can attach a pair of prescription lenses that rest on the nose grips, but the firm is also developing a version where the medically prescribed glass will be bonded to the lenses.
